ANC ‘forces of change’ launch website

Johannesburg - A website calling for change in the ANC leadership was launched on Wednesday.

The website, named 'Forces of Change' listed five reasons why change was needed.

“We need change because South Africans do not have confidence in the leadership of President Zuma,” Forces of Change's website read.

“We need a leadership that will lead the ANC towards quality and durable change, towards an ideal as set out in the Freedom Charter, which remains its strategic vision and mission.

“A leadership that will regain the confidence of all Africans on the African continent. We believe that this will be best obtained by the following leadership structure, which is tried and tested and open to scrutiny.”

The website's preferred candidates for the party's top six were: Kgalema Motlanthe for president, deputy president Mathews Phosa, national chairwoman Thandi Modise, secretary general Fikile Mbalula, deputy secretary general Thenjiwe Mthinthso and treasurer general Tokyo Sexwale.

The ANC is holding its national elective conference in Mangaung in December where President Jacob Zuma would be standing for a second term.

Motlanthe had been nominated by some in the party but it was not yet clear if he would accept the nomination.

Nominations for the ANC's leadership would officially close on November 26.

According to Forces of Change the website would “provide honest and unbiased information for the use of the branches”.

Online debates would also be held on social netwroking sites Facebook and Twitter.

Its Twitter handle was SaveANC.

It was not clear who was behind the creation of the website.

African National Congress spokesman Keith Khoza said the party had not seen the website.

“(However), there is no website that can serve as a substitute to the role of the ANC branches,” he said.

“Anybody who wants to influence branches of the ANC through websites is undermining our internal democracy.”

Khoza said anyone who used these types of platforms would not succeed.